Susie, you’re right to give up the useless comparisons and obsessive pursuit of greatness at the expense of living a life of meaning, discovery and fulfillment. That doesn’t mean you can’t make a difference in the world; you already have.

In case there are any lingering doubts, you might be interested in the perspective provided in the book “Outliers” by Malcom Gladwell. In one section, he tells the story behind Gates, Jobs, Wozniak, and Alan Kay (Silicon Valley’s Mt. Rushmore) and describes the special window of opportunity these guys shared in addition to their vision, work ethic and imagination.

There are huge differences in economic, social and technolgical factors that might cause one group within an age cohort to do great while people born a few years earlier or later may struggle.

You don’t mention their ages, but if your CEO was 28 in 2000, he hit the jackpot during the first internet bubble. If he came up a year later, all those opportunities were gone.

On the other side of the spectrum, you could have been born along with all the talented and hard working kids who graduated between 2007 and 2009, stuck in the very pit of the worst economic disaster to hit this country since the Great Depression. Instead of comparing yourself to your uber successful CEO at 23 1/2, you would probably be unemployed, saddled with massive school debt and living with your parents.

One way or another people find their path. And the ones worth following usually aren’t linked to a spread sheet timeline.